Origins of Magic

The Search Begins

Day 2

11

OCT/10

The party moved immediately to the Archmage’s alchemy lab to find a large hole blown into the building and the town wall which lied directly behind it. There are two guards standing along the outside of the blown open section of the building. Heinrich and Moultager are sent off so their lack of personal skills and common sense is not an interference in the diplomatic events.

The remaining members move to speak to the guards and through some slick talking Edward convinces the guard that, evn though they are not in uniform, they do work for the king. The group gets inside the alchemy lab and tricks the guard yet again, this time into believing that they are the newly leaders of the investigation. Little is known by the king’s men already, other than what can be clearly seen.

The area is in complete disarray. Broken glass lays on the floor and several shelfs have been busted as well. There are also scrolls and potions that have been taken but they don’t seem to be of any particular pattern. Their are ones taken of all types and all complexities.

When they are done searching the area the party returns to Heinrich and Moultager only to find that Moultager has found himself a hooker. He refuses to leave without her and Edward decided it a quicker plan to just convince the hooker to come with them.

Using Urd’s ability to track the party follows Marcaus’ trail until it suddenly comes to a complete stop. It is unsure why the tracks come to an end, but based on the general direction it appears he was headed to the elven city of Vadian. The party decides that this is their best guess at his location.

The party enters into the forests for only a few minutes before they are ambushed by a small squad of humans. Although the fight is brief, Urd’s Tiger, t-i-double-g-er, falls in the battle. It is noticed that the men all wear armor which sports the same strange symbol that was seen on Marcaus’ armor. Even stranger still is the fact that shortly after the enemies are defeated the symbol on the armor glows bright and then their armor explodes, although their is no indication of this being a magical effect.

The final man left alive is pinned to the ground by the party, mainly Urd in the form of a velociraptor. The man attempts to press a button on chestplate, but before he can he is pinned down preventing him from moving his arms. The party begins a long and drawn out interogation process as the man is slowly bleeding to death do to the wounds caused by the velociraptor.

He tells the group that it does not matter what they threaten him with or what they do to him, he will not and cannot tell them what they need to know. He withholds most information, but the party manages to gather that Marcaus is in charge of the men wearing the symbol and that they cannot afford to stop what they are doing. He says that if he says who they are and what they are doing he would risk the lives of everyone in the world.

Soon the party grows sick of his constant refusal to answer there questions and they quickley kill the man and make sure to step back before his detonation. Before they can continue they hear a voice commanding them to stop. They turn to see a small batallion of Elven scouts. They are patrolling the area and overheard the explosions.

Edward quickley describes what happened and asks the men if they know anything of the symbol they were wearing. The scout leader has no knowledge but he requests that you accompany him back to Vadian where you can meet with Tharavol, the mayor of Vadian.

Upon arriving at the town the leader informs that party that they must wait until they see the king. They are free to roam the village and he will seek them out when the king is ready to speak with them. The party engages in various activities. While most go to the bar, Edward spends his time playing his mandalin and recruiting others to spread the word of his name. The others go to the bar where Heinrich and Moutteger almost start a bar room brawl, but through the cunning words of Edward, arriving just in time, the crisis is averted.

The group manages to talk to the bartender who informs them that there was a group of men who came through just the previous night doning the same symbol that Marcaus wore. He says that they were a very reckless group and caused quite a stir within the village. The real ruckus; however, was caused at the inn and the innkeep would now more than anyone.

The party immediately speaks to the inn keep who says that he did have a room opened for that group last night. There wer five men, all of whom were extremely loud and broke much of his furniture. The noise in the room woke him up in the middle of the night and he went downstairs to retrieve the room key, fully intending to kick the group out after receiving reimbursement for the damaged room. Although, when he returned they were all gone.

He shows the party to the room and it is in complete shambles as he already mentioned. There are a empty bottles laying around the room that are clearly labeled from the Archmage’s alchemy lab, although the exact potions used have no pattern to them either. Urd, being genrous pays the innkeep for allowing them to search the room.

The party wanders the streets for a few more hours before the scout leader returns to show them to the king. Once within the chambers the king informs you that the elves are not ones to be amused by parlor tricks and childish manuerisms, so they too wish to find the men who stayed at their inn the previous night and show them proper justice. As Tharavol works negotiations with providing backup for the party, his secretary comes bursting into the room screaming that the village is under attack.

Rushing to the front door you see the villagers scrambling into their houses for cover and the soldiers all rushing to their positions high in the trees. Entering the town are eight Huge elementals, two of each kind: Fire, water, earth, and wind. The party joins arms to help protect the village from the attack.

In the insueing fight the party manages to come out on top dispite mishapes between Heinrich and Edward which lead to Heinrich’s temporary blindness. Regardless of their efforts many of the soldiers and villagers of Vadian are killed or injured in the fight and to make matters worse all but the inn and the town hall are completly destroyed. Tharavol thanks the party for their much needed help in fighting off the elementals but he says that he can no longer provide aid in their journey. He allows them to spend the night within his quarters, as he will stay with his people tonight.